Sickness

Poor Kylie...she has gotten the bug...today is the first day she has missed school all year. She is more sick about missing school and ruining her perfect attendence record than she is about actually being sick. But she is white as a ghost, and just aches all over, and has a cough that sounds similar to Kirby's bark. I gave her medicine, but it wasn't enough.

Sure hope the others in the family don't get whatever it is she has. Especially me.

Kids and grades...

Rhett and Kylie came home with report cards on Friday. Both did very well.

Kylie is at or above grade level on everything but money knowledge. She only knows what a penny is, and what it's worth, but none of the other coinage. She is doing very well in school and really likes it. Today she is going to have a play date after school with one of her friends that used to be in our ward. She is very excited.

Rhett's report card surprised us very much. He is doing much better in school, but he is still below grade level by about 6-8 months, and yesterday I met with the special ed team at our school. He has been tested by just about everyone, and it had been determined he is eligible for special ed. We will be starting that in the next couple of weeks. I was surprised, his IQ is actually very high, but that is because he scored almost off the charts for his visual, but then his retention is seriously low. Everyone assures me he is not stupid nor does he have a learning disability of any sort, he just has a very hard time concentrating and remembering what he's just learned, thus the reading problems. He's strong in math, until he gets a word problem, and then he can't read or comprehend or retain, so he brings his math scores down. The school physcologist said he was just like Rhett at that age, and now he has a doctorate, so there is hope for my poor boy. He loves school, but it is more of a social thing with him. He'd rather be out riding his bike, his scooter, climbing trees, running, jumping, being active, not sitting and doing school work. He's going to be my adrenaline junking someday. Maybe he'll be in the X-games someday tearing it up on the half pipe...

Anthony's grades get mailed home, so I haven't seen them yet, but I know from his on-line grade report, he has all A's and B's. I don't have to worry about that one. My good kid...Does his work, gets good grades, is good in school, and will hopefully get a band scholarship in 4 years...

I can't believe it's the end of January already. What happened to this month? It's been a busy one. But it just means we're getting that much closer to SUMMER!!!!

Time for an update...

The new year has been a busy one for me so far, after my trip to LA I feel like I go none stop all day, every day...I am so busy in fact, I have been to Wal-Mart for one thing or another every night for the past 6 days...it isn't fun.

Anyways...kids are settling back into school, doing homework, and all that. Jason is back to working more for Security, so I never see him. Safari Club Int'l is in town this week, show starts today...Reno is busier for it...

The weather is still COLD COLD, but warming up just a bit for a day or two. We haven't had any snow lately, which is always good. We had frozen pipes on the 13th, luckily nothing broke, but I had to keep myself from getting too upset about how much I hate winter by saying "Reason 2,542 why I hate winter..." I figure there are about 5,377 reasons total why, but frozen pipes is number 2542 on that list.

Got my i-pod on Sunday, but it doesn't want to work right. I can't add any new songs, and it will only play Aerosmith...I guess it must be an Aerosmith i-pod, and Apple just didn't know they had one. I have to wait to get with my brother-in-law this weekend to get it fixed. He's the one I bought it from.

We went to Sacramento over this past weekend for the International Sportsman's Expo at Cal-Expo...it was so nice to get out of town, and we had a great time. Everyone got something. I was very excited because I drove all by my self in California, didn't get lost, didn't get in an accident, and lived to tell about it from an emotional stand point.

My mom is doing very poorly...her meds aren't working again, and they can't seem to get them worked out, so she is very agitated, violent, and depressed. My dad, as can be expected, isn't doing well, either. And my sister, Christy, isn't being very supportive right now. She just has a hard time excepting the fact that there really isn't much to be done...she's a very emotional person, and reacts differently than Elaine or I do. I think I mourned my mom when she got the disease, where as Elaine mourns it about once a week, and Christy mourns it hourly. Maybe I'm less feeling, or busier, but I know there is nothing I can do, my mom really isn't there, and I completely understand and have faith in my Heavenly Father and his plan. I know I will be with my mom for an eternity, and she will be made whole again. Both my sisters don't quite get it that way.

Doggies are doing good. Sienna is in heat, but on a happy note, goes back in for the rest of her training on Feb. 10. If all goes well, we could be breeding her the next time she goes into heat, which means we could have pups around Christmas 07. How cool is that? What's even better, since we have given breeding rights to our trainer, I won't have to worry about the puppies, except to play with them until they go away to new homes.

We have 2 new neighbors on our street. One is a family with a girl Rhett's age. We tease him about having a girl friend. Haven't meet the other one yet...Our neighborhood really stays to themselves, and we tend to meet more in the summer when we're all out watering the yards.

Anyways, only 148 more days to go until my favorite season begins...

Extremes

I started out the work week in sunny WARM L.A....it was 82* on Monday, and 77* on Tuesday...today...I am stuck back in Reno...it is only 17* with an expected high of 23*, and there is about 1 inch of snow...I prefer the way I started the week to this stuff now...Oh well, at least I have the memory of my trip...

167 days until summer...

Good news...

Almost forgot to even mention these couple of things...but I got a raise...that's always good. I haven't had one in over 2 years, so it was about time...

And on Sunday, I met with my Bishop to tell him who to call as the new 1st councilor, since the one I have now is moving to Texas to go to law school in two weeks, and he said he already knew who it was to be. I asked who, and he said the exact name I was going to tell him. It's great the way the Lord works. It proved to me that calling this person is divine, since both the Bishop and I got her name.

Sunrise 1/3/07

It's Snowing!!!!

Let me start off by saying "YUCK"!!!!, but here's some cute pics of the boys using their snowboards in the drive way....

Christmas 2006

Jason and Dove

This one was taken by Rhett...we look like total dorks, but how many pictures do you all get to see of me?

Kylie & Papa at dinner 12/16/06

Happy New Year!

We spent a wonderful New Years Eve together as a family, bowling at Coconut Bowl at Wild Island. Some friends, and my two nieces joined us. It was warm, dry, and we weren't surrounded by a bunch of drunks. Jason put $20 in the juke box, so we pretty much had great music to listen to the entire night. It was really fun. This is the first New Years Eve that Jason has had off in about 9 years. He usually has to work security, but this year, he told them he wouldn't work.

We spent the first day of the new year, sleeping in, napping, and putting away the Christmas decorations. Now I feel like the evilest part of winter is upon me. I hate winter, and Christmas is the only good thing about it, but now that it is over, and all the pretty decorations are put away, the days are just dark, dismal, cold and ugly.

On a lighter note, I found out today, I get to fly to LA on Monday and stay through Tuesday for work. I am looking forward to that. I don't fly much, and I stay in a nice hotel even less. I am flying down with a co-worker, but flying home all by my self Tuesday. Wish me luck.